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Pac-12 Weekly Honors: Week Eight

Posted by AMurawa on January 7th, 2013

Another week, another group of honors for Pac-12 people and things…

Team of the Week – Oregon

At first glance, the thought was that Arizona State’s 2-0 start, including a win over Colorado, would be enough to earn the Sun Devils this honor. But winning at home in conference play is just something you’re supposed to do. No, we needed to find a road warrior this week, and that left us looking at California, Washington and Oregon. We threw Cal out due to its loss at UCLA and, because we still aren’t really sure if beating USC is that much of an accomplishment, leaving us with a pair of teams that went on the road in-state and came away with 1-0 records in the conference. After briefly considering a tie, Oregon got the nod for its more impressive win against what may be a slightly better opponent and the panache with which they got it done. After trailing by six at the half, freshman guard Damyean Dotson took on the offensive load, while the entire Ducks team stepped it up defensively to take home the first basketball edition of the Civil War.

Damyean Dotson And The Ducks Earn Team Of The Week Honors With A Road Win Over In-State Rival Oregon State

Player of the Week – Jason Washburn, Utah

Despite coming away from the week with an 0-2 record, Washburn was our choice for the best player of the week in the conference. His numbers alone (18 PPG, 14.5 PPG, 3.0 BPG, 55 FG%) give some indication into just how good he was, but the fact of the matter is that in both games he played this weekend against some talented opponents, Washburn was the best player on the floor. Against Jordan Bachynski on Wednesday night, Washburn pulled down a career-high 18 boards, swatted four shots, and nearly willed his team to a win, infuriating the ASU crowd along the way. Then Saturday night, against Kaleb Tarczewski and the highly-regard Arizona bigs, Washburn backed up that effort by going for 17 points, 11 boards and a couple more blocks, again helping to keep his scrappy Utes in the game against more talented competition. While a measly little POTW award isn’t going to make up for his team’s 0-2 start in the conference, Washburn took on some formidable bigs and made tight games out of match-ups that weren’t expected to be too highly contested.

Newcomer of the Week – Damyean Dotson, Oregon

I’ll admit, I’ve been big on Dotson since I first saw him play a couple months ago and was just waiting for him to give me an excuse to talk about him. A freshman that plays beyond his years, Dotson gave me that excuse on Sunday night, taking over the second half of the Ducks’ trip to Corvallis and scoring 15 of his team-high 21 points after the break. Dotson hit a couple of threes on Sunday night, but he excels most at scoring either off the bounce, on a pull-up, or in transition. And, with his 6’5” frame and solid body, he’s capable of not only helping out on the glass, but also defensively overpowering smaller opponents. You’re likely to see his name again in this space before season’s end.